Register boat heater assembly



Jan. 26, 1965 J. w. NORRIS ETAL 3,167,640

REGISTER BOOT HEATER ASSEMBLY 3 Sheets-Sheet 1 Filed Aug. 25, 1961 ATTORNEYS.

III/ I 1/ II I III Jan. 26, 1965 J. w. NORRIS ETAL 3,167,640

REGISTER BOOT HEATER ASSEMBLY Filed Aug. 25, 1961 5 Sheets-Sheet 2 ATTORNEYS.

Jan. 26, 1965 J. w. NORRIS ET'AL 3,167,640

REGISTER BOOT HEATER ASSEMBLY Filed Aug. 25, 1961 3 Sheets-Sheet 3 WZ LZZ? By M 9371M ATTORNEYS.

United States Patent Ofitice 3,167,643 Patented Jan. 26, 1965 3,167,640 REGISTER BOAT HEATER ASSEMBLY John W. Norris and Richard D. Miller, both of Marshalltown, Iowa, assiguors to Lennox Industries, Inc., a corporation of Iowa Filed Aug. 25, 1961, Ser. No. 133,910 3 Claims. (Cl. 219-374) This invention relates in general to electrical heating installations, and more particularly to an arrangement of replaceable electrical heating elements in a system in which air transmitted through ductwork from a single source to a plurality of register outlets is adapted to be heated by the heating elements at the register outlets for selective area heat control.

From the above, it will be appreciated that a number of advantages are derived from a system of the type described. Thus, since the electrical heating elements or units are located at the register outlets, little heat is lost in transmitting the air through the ductwork in distinction from the type of electrical unit which is located at the air source or in the duct. In addition, the interchangeability of the various electrical elements at the register outlets permits easy repair or replacement and further permits the heating capacity of the system or part thereof to be easily varied as needed and as desired. Since the various heating elements are located at the register outlets, rooms can be easily heated on an individual and selective basis. In addition, if the ductwork is installed in a foundation such as a concrete slab, the electrical heating elements may still be installed therein and re placed with ease without disturbing the ductwork.

Thus, the principal object of the invention is to provide an improved arrangement for replaceably mounting electrical heating elements of desired capacity in the register outlet portions of a forced air heating system in which air from a central source is transmitted through ductwork to the register outlets.

The above and other objects of the present invention will become apparent on examination of the following specification, claims and drawings.

FIGURE 1 is a general schematic view of an illustrative heating installation incorporating the principles of the present invention;

FIGURE 2 is a perspective view of the register boot or outlet assembly used in the heating installation;

FIGURE 3 is a top plan view of a heating element assembly suitable for use in the register boot of FIGURE FIGURE 4 is a side elevation-a1 view of the heating element assembly shown in FIGURE 3;

FIGURE 5 is a front view of an illustrative heating element which advantageously may be used in the assembly of FIGURE 3;

FIGURE 6 is a sectional view of the register boot taken along the line 66 of FIGURE 2; and

FIGURE 7 is a top elevation view, partially broken away, of the register boot.

Referring now to the drawings, and more particularly to FIGURE 1, an illustrative heating installation is indicated by the reference character 10 and is shown located within the confines of a building such as a home by the wall sections 12.

The system 10 may be of the closed forced air circulating type or may comprise an intake port 14 extending to an intake duct 16 and controlled by a suitable valve or damper 18. The intake duct 16 feeds the blower assembly 20 which comprises a continuously operating motor and fan that normally operates to draw in air through the intake port 14 and expel it through a common feed duct 20. A number of branch ducts or conduits 22 distribute the air from the feed duct 20 into outet assemblies or register boots 24 located in respective rooms or areas whose confines are not indicated. It will be understood by those skilled in the art that feed duct 20 and the ducts 22 together with the register boots 24 may be installed under floors and over ceilings, or alternatively, may be embedded in a concrete floor 25 and as such would be a non-removable, permanent type of installation.

The outlet assembly or register boot 24 advantageously may take the form of an L-shaped housing 26, as illustrated in FIGURE 2. The housing 26 comprises a pair of L-shaped side walls 28 of sheet metal, for example, which may be formed by a single sheet metal element 30 bent to form the vertical walls 32, 34, and 36 and the horizontal walls 33 and 40 corresponding to the configuration of the side walls 28, as best seen in FIGURES 6 and 7.

The vertical wall 36 is provided with a circular aperture in which an annular hood or canopy assembly 42 is mounted for engagement with a respective duct 22 in any well known manner. The hood 42 defines an inlet port 44 in which is located a sheathed electrical heating element 46. The air, on traversing the electrical heating element 46, is warmed when the heating element is energized with electrical power and the warmed air passes through the register boot 24 between walls 32 and 34 and out of a port 4-8 defined thereby into the room to be warmed. The port 48 may of course be provided with the conventional plenum chamber and a grillwork which permits the Warm air to pass into the desired space.

The sheathed heating element 46 as seen in FIGURE 5 comprises a spiral sheath 50 in which is located a heating coil 52 having convolutions following this sprial sheath and spaced therefrom in any known manner. The center of the spiral sheath may be closed off by a disc 54 so that the air cannot pass through the center, but instead must pass through arms of the spiral to insure maximum heat transfer.

The ends of the spiral sheath 50 are projected perpendicularly from the spiral and extended to form a pair of parallel perpendicular arms 56 projecting from the periphery of the spiral. A power plug 58 is nested between the terminating ends of arms 56 and one end 60 of the heating coil 52 is connected to a terminal thereof. The other end 62 of the heating coil 52 is extended to a limit switch indicated by the housing 64. The limit switch may be of any Well known type, such as bimetal or the like, and its other terminal is connected at 66 to the remaining terminal of plug 58 so that the limit switch will be in series with the heating coil 52. In accordance with a feature of this invention, the switch is located adjacent the heating element sheath 50 so that its response is closely correlated with the heating element temperature. The plug 58 and switch housing 64 are mounted on respective flanges 68 and 70 of a plate 72 with the plate 72 abutted against the two arms 56. The flange 68 carries a pair of spaced-apart right angle tongues 74 and 76, and one end of a generally U-shaped cover plate 78 having its other end closed is adapted to be inserted therebetween to complete and enclose the heating element assembly 80.

The cover plate 78 carries a threaded stud 61 on one side thereof to permit the heating assembly 80 to be detachably mounted on a wiring shield assembly 82 in the register outlet 24. The wiring shield assembly 82 comprises the vertical sheet metal walls 84 and a top wall 86 having a projecting slotted flange 88. One vertical wall 84 has a plug-receiving socket 99 mounted thereon, to which the electrical power leads may be extended through shield assembly 82 in any well known manner. The socket 943 is adapted to be engaged by the male prongs 92 of plug 58 for the purpose of extending the electrical connections to supply electrical power to the limit switch 64 and heating element coil 52. When the prongs of plug 58 are engaged with socket 9% the threaded stud 81 'is engaged with the slot in flange 88 and wing nut 94- serves to maintain the assembly mechanically and electrically engaged with the sheathed coil 52 located in the port 44.

The various heating elements 52 in their associated register boots are operated in any one of a number of conventional manners. Thus, each may be under control of a' respective thermostat or a common thermostat, but in either event, a predetermined temperature condition results in the applying of electrical power through the plugs 90 and 68 and through switch 64 to heating coil 52 to Warm any air passing through port 44 and exiting through port 43 into the respective room. In the event overheating occurs, the limit switch 64 operates to open the circuit to the coil 52 in a conventional manner. In this manner, individual rooms may be heated to a desired temperature, and in the event of a problem with respect to any one room, the remaining rooms may remain heated.

In accordance with a highly important feature of this invention, the sheathed heating coil assembly 80 may be easily removed either for replacement or repair, as by insertion of a hand through register port 48 and manually disengaging the nut 94 from stud 81. The plug 58 then may be disengaged from the socket 90 by direct hand manipulation of the heating coil assembly 89. As the plug 58 is pulled away from the socket 90, the entire assembly 8 including the plate 72, arms 56, limit switch 64 and the heating coil sheath 50, together with coil 52, are also moved away from wall 84 until prongs 92 of plug 58 are clear of wall 84. The assembly 80 may then be rotated about the axis of sheath 50 to bring the prongs 92 into a downwardly projecting position. In this position the plate 72 and the arms 36 are in their lowest position and the'assembly presents no appendage for abutment with the walls of the register boot 26.

The coil assembly 89 may now be pivoted about a vertical axis adjacent wall 34 to move plug 58 into the space between walls 32 and 34, while placing sheath 50 in a horizontal plane. The plug 58, together with plate 72 and arms 36, are moved vertically upwards until sheath 50 comes adjacent wall 40 at which time the plug 58, arms 36 and plate 72 may be pivoted about the lower edge of wall 34 to move sheath 50 into a vertical plane between walls 32 and 34 while plug 58 and portions of arms 36 and plate 72 have been withdrawn through port 48. The assembly 80 may now be simply lifted through the port 4-8.

The assembly 80 may now be repaired, if necessary, or replaced, if desired, by an assembly of similar, greater or lesser capacity and of the same external physical dimensions, with the capacity of course determined by the particular heating coil utilized. In an illustrative embodiment of this invention, pluggable heating coils having capacities of 500, 1,000, and 1,500 watts were interchangeably utilized in the register boot. To replace the assembly, the above-described steps are taken in reverse order and, when the plug 58 is engaged with socket 9t) and the cover plate 78 placed in position, the assembly is ready for use.

In accordance with a further feature of this invention,

hood 42 may comprise an inner collar at the interior of housing 26 for enclosing the spiral sheath 50 and a separate outer collar at the exterior of housing 26 for coupling engagement with an air supply duct 22. Advantageously, as shown in FIGURES 6 and 7, a gasket 98 formed of insulating material, such as A3" thick asbestos for example, is positioned between the inner and outer collar of hood 42. Those skilled in the art will appreciate that by the proper location of the limit switch 64 and the use of the gasket 98, the entire housing may be in contact with combustible material without creating a fire hazard due to excessive temperatures.

While there has been shown and described a specific embodiment of the present invention, it will, of course, be understood that various modifications and alternative constructions may be made without departing from the true spirit and scope of the invention. Therefore, it is intended by the appended claims to cover all such modifications and alternative constructions as fall within their true spirit and scope.

What is claimed as the invention is:

1. A register boot adapted to be fixedly connected to a support comprising an L-shaped housing having an inlet opening in one wall adapted to be connected to a duct andthrough which air is received and a discharge outlet in another wall through which air is discharged from said housing, said discharge outlet being elongated along the length thereof and having a narrow width, said walls being disposed at an angle to one another whereby a generally L-shaped air flow passageway is defined Within the housing, electrical heating means disposed entirely within said housing adjacent said inlet opening and transversely thereof including a heating element disposed in said air flow passageway out of alignment with said discharge outlet, readily releasable means in said housing accessible through said discharge outlet and cooperating with said electrical heating means for detachably supporting said heating means in said housing adjacent said inlet opening, and readily releasable electrical connector means in said housing for detachably connecting said heating means to a source of power, said electrical heating means being constructed and arranged for insertion and removal as a unit through said discharge outlet, said heating means being detachable from said housing and removable therefrom by passage through said L-shaped passageway and said discharge outlet.

2. A register boot adapted to be fixedly connected to a support comprising an L-shaped housing having an inlet opening in one wall adapted to be connected to a duct and through which air is received and a discharge outlet in another wall through which air is discharged from said housing, said discharge outlet being elongated along the length thereof and having a narrow width, said walls being disposed at an angle to one another whereby a generally L-shaped air flow passageway is defined Within the housing, electrical heating means disposed entirely within said housing adjacent said inlet opening and transversely thereof, said heating means comprising a spiral sheathed heating element disposed in said air flow passageway out of direct alignment with said discharge outlet, said inlet opening being circular, readily releasable means in said housing accessible through said discharge outlet and cooperating with said heating means for detachably sup porting said heating means in said housing adjacent said inlet opening, and electrical connector means on said heating means releasably cooperating with electrical connector means in said housing for detachably connecting said heating element to a source of power, said electrical heating means being constructed and arranged for insertion and removal as a unit through said discharge outlet, said heating means being detachable from said housing and removable therefrom by passage through said L-shaped passageway and said discharge outlet.

3. A register boot as in claim 2 including limit switch means afiixed on said electrical heating means adjacent the heating element and being removable from said housing with said electrical heating means.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS 5 1,444,958 De Luchi Feb. 13, 1923 2,242,630 Steingruber May 20, 1941 6 Kresky Ian. 13, 1942 MacDonald et a1 Mar. 30, 1948 Epstein July 5, 1955 Dean et a1 Aug. 28, 1956 Cotts et a1. June 17, 1958 Ford Jan. 20, 1959 Whitney Apr. 18, 1961 

1. A REGISTER BOOT ADAPTED TO BE FIXEDLY CONNECTED TO A SUPPORT COMPRISING AN L-SHAPED HOUSING HAVING AN INLET OPENING IN ONE WALL ADAPTED TO BE CONNECTED TO A DUCT AND THROUGH WHICH AIR IS RECEIVED AND A DISCHARGE OUTLET IN ANOTHER WALL THROUGH WHICH AIR IS DISCHARGED FROM SAID HOUSING, SAID DISCHARGE OUTLET BEING ELONGATED ALONG THE LENGTH THEREOF AND HAVING A NARROW WIDTH, SAID WALLS BEING DISPOSED AT AN ANGLE TO ONE ANOTHER WHEREBY A GENERALLY L-SHAPED AIR FLOW PASSAGEWAY IS DEFINED WITHIN THE HOUSING, ELECTRICAL HEATING MEANS DISPOSED ENTIRELY WITHIN SAID HOUSING ADJACENT SAID INLET OPENING AND TRANSVEARSELY THEREOF INCLUDING A HEATING ELEMENT DISPOSED IN SAID AIR FLOW PASSAGEWAY OUT OF ALIGNMENT WITH SAID DISCHARGE OUTLET, READILY RELEASABLE MEANS IN SAID HOUSING ACCESSIBLE THROUGH SAID DISCHARGE OUTLET AND COOPERATING WITH SAID ELECTRICAL HEATING MEANS FOR DETACHABLY SUPPORTING SAID HEATING MEANS IN SAID HOUSING ADJACENT SAID INLET OPENING, AND READILY RELEASABLE ELECTRICAL CONNECTOR MEANS IN SAID HOUSING FOR DETACHABLY CONNECTING SAID HEATING MEANS TO A SOURCE OF POWER, SAID ELECTRICAL HEATING MEANS BEING CONSTRUCTED AND ARRANGED FOR INSERTION AND REMOVAL AS A UNIT THROUGH SAID DISCHARGE OUTLET, SAID HEATING MEANS BEING DETACHABLE FROM SAID HOUSING AND REMOVABLE THEREFROM BY PASSAGE THROUGH SAID L-SHAPED PASSAGEWAY AND SAID DISCHARGE OUTLET. 